Bitcoin 64 bit client

The next update to the Bitcoin software took another step towards final approval yesterday with the quiet unveiling of 0.9.0 release candidate 3. The testing version of the Bitcoin client provides a preview of the official release, expected in the next few months.

While most of the changes in the code are likely to be more interesting to miners and coding specialists, there are some noteworthy updates likely to catch the attention of even a casual bitcoiner. Most notably, the 0.9 release implements a variety of fixes for the “transaction malleability” vulnerability blamed for the loss of nearly a $500 million in BTC at Mt.Gox.

Other changes include: Rebranding the client to “Bitcoin Core”to reduce confusion between “Bitcoin-the-network and Bitcoin-the-software”; the release of a Windows 64-bit version of the client; the end of OSX 10.5 and 32-bit support for older Macs; dramatic reduction in transaction fees to 0.01mBTC per kilobyte (0.00001 BTC); a new block chain checkpoint at block 279, 000; support for payment requests; and P2P error messages (useful for explaining transaction failure to users).

The release candidate is likely to be very close, if not identical, to the final 0.9 release.

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